Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-11-17

1
want blowing machines, which blow the
trash sway, leaving the chopped stalks to
! be carried by machinery to sort al
/ hacking or shredding apparatus, which
| tears the stuff al to pieces ard sends 1t
| TO the diffusion batteries.
| AL this preparatory machinery was in
vented this year by Judge W. Z. Parktn-
SCR, proprietor snd director of the works.
| II gets rid Of two great troubles. The
sheaths Of sorghum adhere SO closely TO
the stalk that II could not be Stripped 0y
| hand like toe L uisiana cs1e. Sliced for
THE DIFFUSION BATTERIES
8 proper extraction could not be obtained
from the chips in this form, hence the i'm
provement of tearing them into shreds,
! In this shape the batteries extract, with
the addiLiGu of % per cent. water, sll the
sucrose, rarely leaving trace of it in the
| refuse, or the 0Egssse, IS we would call
il.
The juice from the batteries is treated
exactly as the Louisiana csue Juice from
mills. Carbonate Of lime in liquid paste
is put into the diffusion cells; but the TX
trscted juice is clsnhed like thas Of cane
by the use of common caustic lime & lit
tie larger quantity than we use). 1t is
concentrated in an ordinary double effect,
or one very highly improved by Professor
NJ. Swenson, government chemist, direct
ing the sugar Manufacture. Professor
S"enson is e genius, who has Effected
some wonderful Improvements in the
diffasion, defeating ana evaporating ma
clinery of this plant, which improvements
have largely contributed to doubling the
yield per ton in one year.
From the dOnhIo fact evaOOTotj1o an
parstus the syrup Is delivered 10 the
vscuum pan, where 1t is boiled down to
masse cutie and run directly through the
centrifugsis. To increase the size and
Fl mless of the grain, the syrup for the
vacuum pan is enriched by the addition
of 20 per cent Of the factory sugar, which
has already been dried in the centrifdgals.
This 20 per cent. worked over is de-
ducted from the yield per ton when euch
addition is made.
Containing q larger proporti0nate
amount of glucose, the sorghum mssse
cutie is more gummy than that of our
csD@. consequently requiring about
double Or treble the time for drying
taken by cane sugar.
THE YIELD OF THE FACTORY
since it's mmencement Bas been from
l02 to l13 pounds Of first sugar per ton,
and fifteen gallons Of mUIssses. The
sucrose polarization has been from about
ct to 10. The large percentage OF glH-
cose in the masSe cutie accounts for this
preponderent proportion Of molssses
The frat molasses has been boiled to
seconds Or wagon sugars. None of this
has yet been dried. l think Is would be
more advantageous not to work it over,
but 10 sell the first draining simply as
molasses, which is worth here 20 cents
per gallon.
The price Of the products per ton here,
putting the yield down Of 100 pounds OF
sugsr is:
one men, nnnofeo poonos a. . cents msfket s on
One hundred pounds state bounty cents Gu
Fifteen gallons molasses at 90 cents....... 20
All the sugar made polsrlzes from 50 TO
SO. It must polariZe 80 to receive the
state bounty, which will continue in ef-
feet for four years longer.
The farmer receives 81 per ton for his
sorghum, simply cut c e ag the roots, anC
hsu(ed in With foliage ard seed. The
yield Of sugar and mOlasses givenis based
on the weight Of the plant S. psrated from
leaves ana seed, Or about 20 per cent. CT
the farmers tonnage.
This facJo'y contracted for $50 acres Of
sorghum in the spring. The contracting
farmers have made an average Of about
thirteen tons per acre. Their corn crop
this year sold at the nearest market
towns for rs cents per bushel. They
made forty bushels to the acre, worth
$40. There Ia quite sorghum Juror in
the state, and arrangements have already
been made for the erection of six new ex-
tensive factories.
We spent the day st the factory. In
that time six deleg stions came in from
various sections of Kansas to form esti-
mstes for the erection Of factories, and
kilograms were constantly pouring in in
quiripg about the results. Judge Park
lbson, Professor Swenson and the assist
ant government chemist, DR.. G.. a.
Champion, we're kept busy ehowing Wis
itors ever the work aud explaining the
pre- cesses, which were all plain to those
familiar with our sorghum cane sugar in
dustry.
The apparatus which resulted in
LAST SEASONS CONSPICUOUS FAILURE
has been utterly torn to pieces Or thrown
aside. Almost everything in this big
Kansas sugsr-house is american snd
very modern. As well Gs could be as
certained the fuel consumed in the estab-
iishment was little in excess of that
burned in Louisiana to do an equivalent
amount of work with the double feet.
Here coal costs 80 cents 8 ton, or about
line cents barrel. 1t crops above the
ground IN Fort Scott. The average cos,
of manipulating ton of cane in q we'll
equipped and fully supplied Louisiana
sugar house is 80 Here it has been
more than that (out below So, because
important and costly changes nave been
effected since the factory commenced
Professor Swenson says he thinks he cen
reduce the cost OF manufacture to less
than 8 per ton.
The sugar produced here goes direct to
the consumer, hence the scale of prices is
higher than the Wholesale rates in New
Orleans-rossihly cent rer pound.
These Kansas people seem to have
struck big thing in this business, and
ave go-ahead set, about TO push it for
sill i: is worth. They have the stimulus
of the state bounty for four years; but,
without 1t, If they get present prices for
their products they csn convert ton Of
sorghum into sc Of money. At the prices
prevailing in the New Orleans market